Shedding light on ‘asset light’

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has been pushing its new “asset light” strategy that makes it sound like building a $3.2 billion factory in Luther Forest could be tough for the company to swallow.

Well, some analysts who cover the company believe that a clearer picture of what asset light means could come later this week.

Citgroup analyst Glen Yeung said in a research note published on Friday that he expects AMD to release “further details on its much-touted asset light strategy” during AMD’s analyst day on July 26. That’s Thursday.

One of the ideas that Yeung believes AMD will pursue to achieve an asset light model will be to partner with another company on the chip fab planned for the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta. New York has offered the company $650 million in cash to build the factory,
although AMD has yet to officially commit to building it. Yeung says New York’s agreement doesn’t have any restrictions on ownership for the money.

We’ll be listening on Thursday for any news about the Luther Forest project, also known as Fab 4X.

But don’t necessarily expect a huge announcement. AMD has repeatedly told the Buzz that its plans for Fab 4X remain unchanged and that it’s never said it would announce asset light details during the analyst day.